A gold solvent extraction process may involve the use of a gold extraction reagent which is an efficient gold extractant having a high separation factor over metal impurities of a feed solution (i.e. pregnant leach solution, PLS). The process involves an organic phase comprised of the gold extraction reagent. The gold extraction reagent extracts gold from acidic chloride solutions where gold appears as a gold chloride complex H+AuCl4−. A gold-containing organic phase is obtained by the extraction. Gold extracted into the organic phase is scrubbed by 1.5 M to 8 M HCl to remove impurities and then stripped by an aqueous stripping solution in order to recover gold into an aqueous phase. From the aqueous phase, gold may be recovered by electrolysis or reduced into a solid form by using oxalate acid or sodium borohydride as a reducing agent.
In the process, the costs of HCl used for the scrubbing are high, as at least 3 M HCl, typically 5 M HCl, is used for the scrubbing in order to minimize gold loss and maximize scrubbing result.